Pink Floyd (& related) ~ England

Many consider Pink Floyd the greatest band of all time, and Dark Side of the Moon the greatest album of all time. I don't agree with either assessment (though I own three copies of the album in question) but it's not hard to understand why both of these remain true. Pink Floyd are not an easy band to pigeonhole, and they went through various incarnations of sound and style. Some I love, others I find incredibly dull and boring. I've heard most of their output, including various solo albums. But I haven't documented them all (by a long shot). This post will be updated and forwarded many times before I'm done.

David Gilmour (1978)

It feels odd listening to this album for the first time on cassette. Strangely that's the only way I've found it in the wilds. No CD or LP. I'm talking thrifting and garage saling here. I have plenty of opportunities to overpay at a record store, believe me. This album came out when I started listening to FM radio intently, so I have to say it seems like I've heard most of it before. But it's been ages. The album is largely derivative of the Pink Floyd sound of the era. One can hear Dark Side, Animals, and The Wall in these grooves. Gilmour has always had a bluesy bent to his guitar playing, and that remains the highlight of this album as well, especially the opening instrumental, B2, and B4. The songs tend to drag, even the much heralded 'There's No Way Out of Here', a track they played every hour back in the late 70s.

1978 Columbia (MC)

9/24/26 (review)

Richard Wright - Wet Dream (1978)

In the not-so-distant past yours truly ran a global project management organization. One of my employees was a good PM as an individual, but not a great one. I had to step in on occasion to handle escalations, and there were even calls for me to let her go. I said "no way" as she's a major key to my team's success, even though I had many better PM's, no question about it. They were bewildered by that observation. What she lacked as an individual contributor she more than made up for as a team player. I saw her as a key pillar of why we were successful. Her peers loved and respected her. She is who made the team - a team. And she was 100% supportive of my initiatives even if she struggled to implement them herself. Not for a lack of trying, we're all different. That's how I see Richard Wright. I feel the same way about George Harrison of the Beatles and Led Zep's John Paul Jones. As individuals they're good players and decent songwriters. As part of the larger collective they were the secret sauce. What makes a good music group great is the input of everyone, not just the leaders. And that applies to business as well. So that's my take on Wet Dream. It's a fine, slightly mellow, mostly instrumental album. Nothing special but certainly not a disaster. Wright is a team player not a solo star.

1978 Columbia (LP)

4/8/25 (review)

The Division Bell (1994)

I've clearly avoided writing about any of the Floyd albums post The Wall (and including that album which I don't like). I'll try to make a concerted effort to get down a few words at the very least going forward. One wonders what the point of superstars like Pink Floyd putting albums out like The Division Bell? It's not a terrible album by any means, but it's just so... so... ordinary. Gilmour gets in some nice bluesy licks, and Mason is mailing it in on the drum kit. He was never a jazzer, but c'mon, I could play drums on this album. And I don't how to. There's some smooth jazz, and more than a few references to Dark Side of the Moon, trying to capture a moment in time from 20 years prior. 30 years on from that, it just looks like a desperate writer turning out the same scripts from their blockbuster New York Times Bestseller from the 70s. Boring and unnecessary.

1994 Columbia (CD)

2/26/25 (review)

Obscured by Clouds (1972)

The last of the classic Pink Floyd albums for me to reacquire. And the first back out the door. I thought I liked this one more than I do. Atmospheric, but ultimately dull effort. I think had it been totally instrumental psych I'd be more enamored with it (and there is some of that). Maybe if I find a cheap cassette or CD I'll hold onto it, but I'll take the money for the LP. 

---1/26/26

I did find it on CD, but it did not change my opinion. I did notice that elements of Dark Side of the Moon were becoming apparent on Obscured by Clouds. In that way, the album is historically significant.

1972 Harvest (LP)

8/13/24 (review)
 

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) 

Famous psychedelic album from the creative mind of Syd Barrett. Sort of random in its songwriting approach, it is just that quality that makes this album special. Clearly (ironically) it came from an addled mind. Bizarre and completely out of left field for 1967. Pink Floyd never really sounded like this again once the remainder of the brain trust took over, though there are elements on Saucerful of Secrets. One of a kind.

Ownership: Columbia / EMI Germany (LP). 70s pressing. Acquired in 2022.

First copy owned: A Nice Pair 1983 Capitol (2xLP). Acquired in 1985.

1985; 7/21/23 (review)  

Wish You Were Here (1975)

I knew I had this album rated too high. And sure enough a -1 ensued, putting it right into the Gnosis 11 category. Not first division for me. But I have to say that Richard Wright's synthesizer performance here almost pulled it over the threshold anyway. He really should have spent some time with Klaus Schulze. Who knows what he would have conjured up if he had. 'Welcome to the Machine' still captures my imagination though - a brilliant track. Even with this critique, I'd offer that this album is my favorite Floyd except for album #1 of Ummagumma. A very important release by a band that were selling out arenas and were incessantly played on the radio. Not a commercial album at all, and yet they managed to make it one. Impressive.

Ownership: 

2011 Harvest (LP). Outer bag packaging, and all sorts of other goodies like posters and postcards. Much better than my original 80s commodity LP that's for sure. Acquired in 2011.

2000 Capitol (CD)

First copy owned: 1980 Columbia (LP). Acquired in 1985.

1985; 2/15/23 (review)

Ummagumma (1969)

If there's a single source that one could point to as the origin of cosmic Krautrock, I think Ummagumma may very well be that album. Along with their Dutch counterparts Group 1850 - and a shoutout to Frank Zappa's Hot Rats and Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - you can hear the sounds that Germany took and ran with in their earliest days, especially the bands circling the Ohr label. Depending on one's view, Ummagumma is a live album with bonus tracks - or one cohesive album with a completely different focus for each disc. I think it's best to take the former approach, and it's the live album that is significant here.

There are very few albums that possess two bona fide monster tracks, but here we have what I consider the definitive versions of both 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene' and 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun'. The former is a textbook example of how to build a solemn mood and then absolutely destroy it with one of the most intense climaxes in history. 'Set the Controls...' is about as trippy a number as you can find on any album, anywhere. If Pink Floyd were some obscure group that few had heard about, and these numbers were played back for the first time, it would be a natural reaction to think it was German made. 'Saucerful of Secrets' is no different from an atmosphere perspective, and in fact one could point to none other than Ash Ra Tempel's Schwingungen side longer as but one follower. The opening track is 'Astronomy Domine', the Syd Barrett composition that makes one wonder what direction would have the Floyd gone with him still at the helm.

The other album could best be described as "guys dickin' around in the studio". Which is not to say the album is worthless, as there's some good moments to be found from all four. They would have been better served to distill the best parts (if they would even know what those were) and disperse it evenly around the album. Similar to what Yes did on Fragile a few years later. Because it's separate like this, and the very nature of the type of music being presented, this is why I think it's best to view them as bonus material versus a part of the main album. Otherwise my score would be lower in aggregate.

Ownership: 

1986 EMI / Harvest Germany (2xCD). Fatbox. One of the first LPs I replaced with a CD, and even today, that decision makes total sense to me. Some albums were meant to be on CD, and this is one of them. I reacquired the LP later just because.

Harvest (2xLP). 70s pressing. Gatefold. Reacquired in 2019. First acquired in 1985.

1985; 8/7/22 (review)

Animals (1977)

I'm not sure I've heard this album since the late 1980s, even though I've consistently owned a copy that whole time. For me this is the end of the Pink Floyd I enjoy. I never could stand The Wall, an album I've had a chance to revisit in the last three years. I'll never understand its allure beyond a couple of good tracks. Animals, however, is their final non commercial stance. Not to play on titles here, but it's also dog slow. This is music to kick back, turn down the lights, and absorb. It misses the dynamism of its predecessor, and is not an immediately likeable album. Which I believe is the point. Gilmour gets a chance to really shine here, and taps into his late 60s blues repertoire. It's one of a kind in their discography. Even though it's been 30+ years since I last heard it, I felt like I knew the contents anyway. And the rating of excellent remains unchanged. Love the industrial Britain gatefold cover with the flying pig. It's wall worthy really.

Ownership: 

Columbia (LP). Gatefold. 80's pressing with barcode. Upgraded in 2024. First copy acquired in 1985.

1995 Columbia (CD). Acquired in 1996.

1985; 1996; 1/21/22 (review)

Meddle (1971)

Well, you all know this album. Features two excellent proggy space rock numbers in 'One of These Days' (the only song from this album, incidentally, you would have heard on the radio back in the day) and 'Echoes'. And then there's four rather boring folk rock tracks sandwiched in between. These are far more prosaic and backporch-y than the mystical dazed folk of More, for example. They're definitely no longer a psych band by this time. I particularly enjoy the second movement (as it were) of 'Echoes' with its excellent organ and guitar jam. The interesting aspect of this album is just how ordinary it is for 1971. No doubt that Pink Floyd were major influencers throughout the 60s. But on Meddle, they seem to be followers. There's many more examples of music like this from 1970 and '71 that is much more interesting. And this blog is full of them. After this, it seemed Pink Floyd realized this situation as well, and went about making Dark Side of The Moon. I'm not really a fan of the latter, but it's hard to argue that it wasn't groundbreaking. They were leaders once again.

Ownership: 

1986 Capitol (CD). In the summer of 1986, I was working as a summer intern at a major US government military defense contractor in the Dallas area. It was a great gig, and I was very lucky to get it. I had mediocre grades (electrical engineering, to be fair...) and not much else going for me. But a very close buddy of mine's dad was one of the four owners of the company (see Al Di Meola's Elegant Gypsy post for more about this friend). Yes, it's true, it's who you know... In any case, I did thrive at the job, and was making serious money for a 21 year old intern. So what does a 21 year old dude in 1986 with money do? He buys him a new stereo, that's what! With a CD player! Wow - I was rich. We forget now how expensive CD players - and CDs - were at the time. Of course since I bought a new player, I needed product to go with it. There was a limited selection of CDs at the time. And, of course, there's no way I'm buying a CD of something I already have on LP. Meddle was one of the few Pink Floyd albums I didn't have at the time. So... it was the first CD I ever owned! In fact, it's so old, it has a smooth jewel case with no ridges. Those have become collectible now too, of all things. 

7//86 (CD acquired); 8/28/21 (review)

The Early Tours '70-'71

Title is a misnomer, as apparently the music here was all taken from one concert in Amsterdam on June 26, 1971. This is certainly prime Pink Floyd, though it only includes the music they were doing in 1969. I have to trust that the source credit is correct (from Discogs - and I'm sure other established bootleg sites). The titles don't actually reflect the songs here, but most of this is on the live side of Ummagumma, which is my favorite of all the Floyd albums (just disc 1 mind you). The other tracks are an extended version of 'Cymbaline' from More, a track that otherwise I was not familiar with. Its placement here is perfect though. And finally 'Embryo', a track that you find almost exclusively on live bootlegs. It too has the perfect "Cosmic Krautrock" sound - I say that in deference to Pink Floyd being probably the most influential of all bands for that scene. 

Ownership: 1976 Space (LP). Acquired in 2021.

7/7/21 (review)

More (1969)

This is Pink Floyd at their druggy drifty best. This is the sound that Dom perfected on Edge of Time. I'd heard this album back in the day, but I was way too impatient for music such as this back then. I find side 2 the better of the sides, as it really captures the ethos of the times. Mostly acoustic guitar, tribal drums, and low-fi keyboards, with sparse vocals and the occasional rockin' burst. Love the trippy image windmill cover.

Ownership: 

1973 Harvest (LP). Acquired in 2026.

Capitol (CD). Acquired in 2025.

7/13/21 (acquired / review)

Relics (1971)

I've never owned Relics before, and my memory had this as a compilation. Which is true, but not a typical one. Today you can get most of these on a more modern CD reissue, but I don't have them, so this worked out perfectly. Relics is for fans of 60s Pink Floyd, and that's my favorite era of the band. Five of the 11 tracks are on studio albums, and the others come from rare singles and comps. Just having the studio version of 'Careful with That Axe, Eugene' makes it worth keeping, and the other tracks are great as well.

Ownership: Sounds Superb Belgium (LP). Acquired in 2021.

6/20/21 (review)

Albums I own: A Saucerful of Secrets; Atom Heart Mother; The Dark Side of the Moon; A Momentary Lapse of Reason; two different multi-disc bootlegs

Other albums previously owned: The Wall; The Final Cut; Delicate Sound of Thunder

8/28/21 (new entry)

Talk Talk - The Colour of Spring. 1986 England

Back in the early 90s, some music associates of mine were singing the praises of Talk Talk. They had become somewhat zombie-eyed about them, and were making grand proclamations that they represented true progressive rock, and that the dinosaurs of Yes and Genesis were old hat and tiresome. Like with religion and politics, once you're dealing with someone who "has the inside skinny on the Truth", it's likely they've taken drink of the local kool-aid - and logic is out the window. My resistance meter went straight to the red zone. After hearing Spirit of Eden, I was predictably nonplussed. It's OK I guess. But it's no Close to the Edge! And that was my Talk Talk experience.

That was 30 years ago. Still rather youthful and close minded myself. In these last few years of crate digging, I've been on the lookout for any Talk Talk, but they are not to be found. Finally scored The Colour of Spring at the Denver Record show, a beautiful copy for $5 - one of the better steals of the show for me. Now I'm going in with a totally different perspective, that of the X-Wave mind. Which is - of course - exactly the roots of Talk Talk themselves. I haven't heard anything by the band - I won't even count that Spirit of Eden experience - but I understand this is their "transitional" album from the standard synthpop to a more serious outfit. With an empty slate of expectation, I let the music do the talking minus filters (as much as anyone can do that). Now I'm on board. Selling it as progressive rock is crazy, but as an established New Wave band maturing to adulthood, this is stellar stuff. And what an interesting selection of instrumentation. Can't think of too many X-Wave bands that dug back into the 70s and pulled out the trusty Hammond organ and mellotron. Overall The Colour of Spring is a somber, moody affair with a rich analog sound. I can imagine this being quite a revelation for many fans of 80s music. Just don't go comparing it to Selling England by the Pound. Different game entirely.

Ownership: LP: 1986 EMI America. Single sleeve with lyric inner bag. Acquired as noted above (2022).

10/21/22 (new entry)

Stromboli. 1987 Czech Republic

I've owned this album in continuous fashion for over 30 years, and it's been categorized in just about every genre I collect. Is it prog? psych? jazz fusion? X-wave? The answer is yes. 

There were a lot of unique bands operating in the Czech Republic prior to - and after - the fall of Communism. By the late 80s the Authorities had pretty much given up, and then the Velvet Revolution finished them off. And this unusual sociological blend lead to a music scene that had no peer before or since. Other groups such as The MCH Band, Prazsky Vyber, Dunaj, Aku Aku, and Uz Jsme Doma were trailblazing a path that defies typecasting. I'm not sure how one can copy music like this. It's its own thing as they say. Of these, Stromboli's sprawling double album may be the best representative, even though the competition is fierce. There are heavy psych guitar solos juxtaposed against female New Wave styled vocals. Complex proggy structures sits inside jazz fusion numbers. Vocals are in Czech, and I wouldn't want it any other way. This is the next generation of the greats like Flamengo and Jazz Q. Curious? Listen for yourself. You'll be surprised at how fast the hour and a half goes by.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Bonton. 2xCD with photos and notes in Czech. It's a straight reissue as all of these features were part of the LP. I'm glad they stuck with a double CD rather than try to trim off 10 minutes here and there. As noted above, the first copy I owned was sent to me in 1990 - along with many other Eastern European albums - by a long time friend in Florida who I still keep up with on occasion. As I will often state, albums from that part of the world were meant to be on CD. No matter what version you would like, the album remains easily obtainable in both formats, as it was repressed many times.

12//14; 8/19/22 (new entry)

Squonk Opera ~ USA ~ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Howandever (1994)

Howandever is the debut album from Squonk Opera, a highly creative six piece outfit from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I suspect the group itself never saw themselves as a "progressive rock" band, yet they were adopted by the fans from the outset, and who wouldn't accept a new following? Not long after this album, they found their way to North Carolina and played for the small but exuberant ProgDay crowd. Their music is highly eclectic, bordering on what we now refer to as "avant prog", though never consciously trying hard to fit any such expectation, whatever that may be. Perhaps Art Rock is a better fit. There's an Irish meets Indian meets Broadway Play theme throughout (as noted by instruments such as Celtic flute, Wind Synthesizer, and Electronic Tabla). 'Dance of the Seven Vowels' takes the first two native elements and blends them directly together. Of course, having noted that, '... as yet...' has a strong Moorish Flamenco bent - with tablas of course. Eclectic... yeaaaa. Throughout, the female vocals of Kate Aronson soar peacefully over the proceedings - and certainly Lisa Gerrard needs to be in the conversation, even if not entirely accurate. The opener 'Inside Height' is a jaw dropper, and worth the price of admission alone. 'The Unusual Mrs. Spitz' and 'Whistle & Spit' are hilarious, and sounds more like the dialog one might run into from a modern cable TV show or movie, and would have to be considered ahead of its time in terms of smart female cynicism. This is the type of album I like almost by accident, and I've not ventured further with Squonk Opera fearing that it was a "chance meeting" never to be repeated again. I certainly will never turn down an opportunity to hear any of their other works, and would welcome to be proven wrong in my presumption. It appears the band even attained a bit of mainstream fame as a contestant on America's Got Talent (2011), and were eliminated in the quarters. I'll have to ask my wife if she remembers them (she loves those shows...).

Nowadays this album has been completely forgotten, which is too bad really. Seems the label name is spot on.

Ownership: 1994 Forgotten Works (CD). Acquired in 1995.

1995; 12/28/16 (review / new entry)